Cigarette package and matchbook container



Aug. 18, 1953 D. D. HAYES CIGARETTE PACKAGE AND MATCHBOOK CONTAINER Filed Jan. 22, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 [1 445 0. H/lm's INVENTOR ATTORNEYJPatented Aug. 18, 1953 CIGARETTE PACKAGE AND MATCHBOOK CONTAINER Dale D.Hayes, Greensboro, N. 0., assig'norof onehalf to Paul L. Shadburn,Greensboro, N. 0.

Application January 22, 1951, Serial No. 207,177

2 Claims.

This invention relates to a package and more especially to a package orcontainer adapted to receive a package of cigarettes and to hold thesame for ready dispensation and having in combination therewith meansfor securing a conventional book of matches to the container so that thebook of matches will secure the package of cigarettes within thecontainer to permit withdrawal of individual cigarettes therefrom andwherein the matches will be so positioned. that they are available forstriking and yet protected from accidental ignition.

It is an object of this invention to provide a cigarette packagecontainer which may be formed of plastic or any suitable material andwhich may be molded as an integral piece or formed by cutting orstamping and assembling the various parts thereof in a very economicalmanner to provide a rectangular case adapted to receive a package ofcigarettes and. this case being provided with means for securing a bookof matches therein whereby said book of matches may be so positioned asto hold the package of cigarettes within the container.

It is another object of this invention to provide a cigarette packagecontainer of the type described which is rectangular in shape and whichis provided with an open end which is adapted to receive a package, ofcigarettes and which has means on one Wall thereof for holding a book ofpaper matches and protecting the heads of said matches whereby the coverof the match book may be extended over the open ends of the cigarettepackage container and the package container also being provided withmeans on the other side thereof for frictionally holding the cover ofthe match book to secure the. same in position for holding the cigarettepackage within the container.

It is another object of this invention to provide a cigarette packagecontainer and match book holder in combination wherein the matches willalways be available with the cigarettes and wherein the matches are sopositioned as to be available for striking but with the match headsprotected and wherein any conventional book matches may be used and thecigarettes are locked in the container by the match book cover.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a cigarettecontainer and match book holder of the type described wherein the matchbook cover confines the cigarette package Withi the container butpermits the individual cigarettes to be withdrawn from the container andsaid container having no moving parts so that the motions of opening andclosing. a match book and opening and closing a container are eliminatedthus providing a more efficient cigarette package container.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objectswill appear as the description proceeds When taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a front isometric viewof the cigarette package and match book container showing the same witha package of cigarettes and a pack* age of book matches therein;

Figure 2 is a rear isometric view of the container and showing themanner in which the cover of the match book is held in position; 7

Figure 3 is a rear elevation of the container with the cigarette packageand match book omitted therefrom;

Figure 4 is a sectional plan view looking down along the line ia inFigure 1 and showing the manner in which the cover is formed forprotecting the heads of the matches and omitting the cigarettes andmatches;

Figure 5 is a sectional plan view looking down along the line 5 5 inFigure 1 and showing the manner in which the match book retaining memberis positioned on the front of the cigarette package container andomitting the cigarettes and matches;

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line6-6 in Figure 1;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view looking substantially along theline l'! in Figure 3 and showing the manner in which the pressure barcts to holdthe match book cover in position.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the cigarette package andmatch book container comprises a substantially rectangular casing havinga front wall it, a rear wall ll, end Walls l2 and I3, and a bottom wallhi all secured together in any suitable manner as by adhesive or formedintegral with each other as by molding. The internal dimensions of thecasing thus formed are of substantially the same dimensions as theexternal dimensions of a package of cigarettes or slightly larger sothat a package of cigarettes may be positioned in the casing and willfit snugly therein. In the present illustration, the casing is shown asbeing of a size adapted to receive an ordinary siz package of cigarettesbut if desired, the casing can be larger in order to receive a packageof cigarettes of the longer or king size type.

The cigarette package container and match book holder may be formed ofany suitable material such as plastic and is preferably molded as ani-ntegralunit as illustrated butwhich may be formed by cutting orstamping and assembling the various parts thereof.

The upper edges of the end walls I2 and 13 are cut away as at and 16 topermit access to a package of cigarettes such as indicated at Ppositioned in the casing, containing a plurality of cigarettes C. Thecasing thus formed may be of any suitable material such as cardboard orplastic or metal and is preferably of a material of sufficient stiffnessto prevent the package of cigarettes positioned therein from beingcrushed.

Now, it is well known that in using cigarettes one must have means forlighting the same and it is usually necessary to carry a lighter or tocarry a book of paper matches. To facilitate this and to insure thatmatches will always be available with the cigarettes, it is an object ofthis invention to provide means with the casing just' described forholding a book of paper matches. Heretofore, various means have beenprovided for securing a book of paper matches to a cigarette containerbut in such instances, the matches have been retained in a closed orcovered position where it was necessary to open the same before strikingthe match to light the cigarette since matches left in an open oruncovered position are dangerous. To overcome this, there is providedmeans associated with the casing just described for holding a book ofmatches so that the cover thereof may be reversely folded over thecasing to assist in securing the cigarette package within the casing andthe heads thereof are disposed beneath a cover affixed to or integralwith the casing so that they will be protected but which cover willpermit the matches to be withdrawn without removing the match book fromthe casing.

To this end, the upper front wall H of the casing is provided with acover having a top portion 20 and a front wall 21 and diverging sidewalls 22 and 23 which extend inwardly toward the front wall IQ of thecasing and are secured thereto as at 24 an 25, respectively, or whichare preferably molded integral therewith. The inner edges of the top 20of the cover stops short of the front wall it of the casing to provide aslot 26 through which a cover 30 of a conventional book of paper matchesbroadly designated at 3! may be positioned. The match book 3| alsoincludes a plurality of matches 32 secured therein and having heads 33on the upper ends thereof and a striking surface 34.

In order to retain the match book 3! on the front wall It of the casing,there is provided a retaining arm 35 extendin across the wall It of thecasing and secured at each end thereof to the wall Ill or formedintegral therewith and which is provided with a slot 36 on the sidethereof adjacent the wall 18 to permit the cover 30 of the match book 3ito be positioned in the slot 36 with the retaining member 35 extendingbetween the cover 38 and the matches 32 of the match book 3!. The lowerfront edge of the retaining member 35 is beveled as at 31 to facilitatethe insertion of the match book 3| so that as the cover 30 is slidupwardly through the slots 6 and 23, the heads of the matches willeasily slide over the beveled portion 31 of the retaining arm 35 andthen will be positioned under the top 28 of the cover so that the matchheads will be protected. It will thus be observed that an operator mayremove one of the matches 32 while the match book is in this positionwithout moving the match book out of position.

Now, to further assist in holding the match book 3| in position, therear wall I I of the casing is provided with a pressure bar Allextending across the same adjacent the upper edge thereof and whichpressure bar 4D is provided with a cut away portion on the side thereofadjacent the wall I I forming a slot ll through which the cover 30 ofthe match book 3! extends. It will be observed in Figures 2 and 3 thatthe rear wall ll of the casing is also provided with an opening 32 topermit access t the package C within the housing to facilitate removalof the same and that portion of the pressure bar 46] extending acrossthe opening 42 is provided with a pressure block 43 on the side thereofadjacent the opening 42.

Referring to Figure 7, there will be observed the preferred form ofpressure block 33 and it will be noted that the proximate edge of theblock 43 and the wall II are in substantial alinement so that as thecover 38 0f the match book 3| is positioned in the slot 4! the pressureblock 43 will serve to distend the cover 30 slightly and frictionallyengage the same to hold it securely in position. The pressure block 33is preferably molded integral with the pressure bar 33 or it may besecured thereto in any suitable manner and it will be observed in Figure6 that the upper edge thereof is beveled as at 44 to facilitate theinsertion of the cover 30 between the same and the wall II.

The pressure block 43 may be varied in width or thickness, as desired,to vary the amount of friction which will be exerted against the matchbook cover 33 positioned in the block 4|.

By using a cigarette package container of this type, advertising mattermay be printed on the inner surface of the match book cover 38 so thatit will be exposed to view when the match book is positioned as shown.

It is thus seen that there is provided a casing or container adapted toreceive a package of cigarettes and provided with a retaining bar on onewall thereof adapted to have a match book positioned with the coverthereof between the retaining bar and the casing and the matches thereofon the other side of the retaining bar and the casing also beingprovided with a cover member adapted to cover and protect the heads ofthe matches thus positioned and said cover member having a slot thereinbetween the same and the wall of the casing to permit the cover of thematch book to extend therethrough and over the top of the package ofcigarettes positioned in the container to hold the cigarettes in thecontainer and the cover of the match book then extending downwardlybetween the rear wall of the container and a pressure bar fixed to thecontainer and having a pressure block thereon adapted to frictionallyengage the cover of the match book to hold the same securely in positionso that an operator may remove cigarettes and matches without disturbingthe position of the match book of the cigarette package and withouthaving to open the match book each time a match is desired.

In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferredembodiment of the invention and although specific terms are employed,they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not forpurposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in theclaims.

I claim:

1. A cigarette package and match book container comprising an open endedrectangular casing having front, rear and bottom walls, said front wallbeing provided with a retaining bar thereon spaced from the open end ofthe casing, a match head cover secured to said front wall adjacent theopen end of the casing and having a slot therein adjacent said frontwall, whereby a match book having a cover may be positioned with itscover between the retaining member and the front wall of the casing andextending through the slot in the match head cover and over the open topof the casing and said casing having a pressure bar on the rear wallthereof having a pressure block thereon adapted to frictionally engagethe match book cover to hold the same in position.

2. A cigarette package and match book holder having front, rear and sidewalls and a bottom wall and provided with an open top, the front wallhaving a retaining bar on the exterior surface thereof and spaced fromthe open end of the container and forming a slot for extending the coverof a match book thereunder, a match head cover on the front wall forcovering the heads of the matches in said match book, said match headcover being positioned adjacent the open top of said container andhaving a second slot therein adjacent the exterior surface of thecontainer through which the match book cover may be extended, the rearwall of the container having a pressure bar extending thereacross andspaced from the rear wall to form a third slot and having a pressureblock thereon projecting into said third slot for fri-ctionally engagingthe match book cover when extended over the top of the package andthrough said third slot for holding the same in position.

DALE D. HAYES.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number

